Israel adopting some provisions of West Bank report

The move is part of an effort to adopt certain recommendations of the government-commissioned Report on the Legal Status of Building in Judea and Samaria, Haaretz reported Tuesday. The report claims Israel is not occupying the West Bank.

Based on that conclusion, the 2012 Levy Report — so named because it was authored by former Israeli Supreme Court Judge Edmund Levy — recommended relaxing building restrictions for Israeli settlers.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not called for government adoption of the report, but Haaretz reported that Israel has taken on some of its recommendations. There has been a reduction in Israel exercising its right to remove settlers from private Palestinian land even if no Palestinian complains, according to the Israeli daily, and Israel is considering setting up a special court for land disputes in the West Bank. The report’s recommendation would remove the military from such disputes.

The United Nations and much of the world consider Israel to be occupying the West Bank.